I am no chemist, so please correct me if I'm wrong. Your suggestion would involve splitting the Carbon-Carbon bonds in the glycerol part of the molecule. This is certainly possible, as it's what happens with catalytic cracking. However if you're doing this to the glycerol part of the molecule you're probably also doing it to the Carbon-Carbon bonds in the fatty acid chains as well. And as the Carbon-Oxygen bonds are generally easier to break, I'm not sure that you could devise a process that didn't just give you a large number of smaller molecules, effectively by smashing the original oil up and hydrogenating it. You would probably just end up with a mixture of volatile short-chain compounds, which you would then need to separate to make use of except as a fuel in itself (more like petrol (gas) than diesel).
And in any case I doubt having a catalytic cracker in your kitchen, plus a suitable supply of hydrogen, is a very practical proposition! The beauty of the transesterification process is that it's fairly simple and ends up with exactly what you want - a fuel that you can just pour into an existing vehicle without too much to worry about. Donald --- tomasjkn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hello dear fellow biofuelers, > I have one theorethical question for chemists among you :). It seams > to me, that there should be a direct chemical conversion route from > oil to fatty acid methyl esters. > > (R-COO)-CH2-(R-COO-)CH-CH2-(-COO-R) + 3H2 ==> 3 R-COO-CH3 > > Has anyone of you studied this conversion path? This path seams to > have greater potential for beeing cheaper, because there is no need > to > add methanol into the process and there is no waste glycerol; the > only > _realy_ hard thing is to find an appropriate catalyst. > > But this way you completely eliminate the tedious process of first > splitting the oil into the glycerol and FFA and then combining FFAs > with methanol, to get the final product - fatty acid methyl esters. > > > Or, perhaps a less radical idea, but achieving the same economy :) > Maybe there is a route to convert your waste glycerol into methanol? > > CH2OH-CHOH-CH2OH + 3H2 ==> 3 CH3OH > > The hydrogen sorce for both reactions need not to be pure hydrogen, > this might be some other chemical, which gives off hydrogen athoms in > reaction... > > So, any ideas on this?? > > > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor > --------------------~--> > Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70 > http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM > --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> > > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Biofuels list archives: > http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ > > Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. > To unsubscribe, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > ===== -- 43 - more than the answer to life, the universe and everything. ___________________________________________________________ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - sooooo many all-new ways to express yourself http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
